US yet to confirm details of Pak crackdown

Washington, Dec 10 (PTI) The US is yet to confirm arrests
and action against terror groups operating from Pakistan,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said, but described
the reported crackdown by Islamabad as "serious sets of
steps".

"We are still gathering reports. We're not yet able to
confirm a lot of what we are reading about arrests and about
action against the camps, but these are serious steps, and we
are pleased at what appears to be a serious set of steps," she
added.

Maintaining that non-state actors had "clearly used
Pakistani territory" for the Mumbai strikes, Rice said
Islamabad has a responsibility to act against them as
terrorism was a "real" threat to improving relations between
India and Pakistan.

"The civilian government in Pakistan, a new civilian
government that wants to do the right thing. And in fact, I
believe they've begun to do some of the right things," Rice
said in an interview with CBS Radio.

Rice said something "very important" is going on in
Pakistan, but declined to spill out the details.

Her comments came as American counter-terrorism officials
have put question marks on how far the Pakistan government
would rein in the groups, which have functioned as an arm of
Pakistan's military and intelligence services for two decades.

These officials, were quoted by the New York Times as
saying that an important sign of whether Pakistan was serious
in shutting down Lashkar would be if the group was demobilised
by the government and its fighters given alternative
employment.

Noting that Pakistan too has been a victim of terrorism,
the Secretary of State said the crackdown launched by the
country will also serve its own interests.

"I want to emphasise, Pakistan is doing this in its own
interest as well, because Pakistan has suffered greatly from
terrorism. And of course, President Zardari lost his great
wife, Benazir Bhutto, to the terrorists," Rice said.

She said the motive of the perpetrators of the Mumbai
carnage was to "stir up trouble" between the nuclear armed
neighbours, who had achieved marked improvement in their
bilateral ties.

"These terrorists are undoubtedly unnerved by the
increasingly good relations between Pakistan and India," Rice
said.

Recalling that the Mumbai attack occured when Pakistan
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was in New Delhi for a
strategic dialogue, the top official said it was a clear
indication of the intentions of the perpetrators.

"In fact, the Pakistani Foreign Minister was actually in
India for a strategic dialogue during – when this attack took
place. And so clearly, those who want to disrupt good
relations between India and Pakistan were at root," she said.

"It has the side benefit, of course, of making certain
that Pakistan remains focused on the old conflict with India,
which I believe can be resolved effectively between the
parties, rather than on the real threat to Pakistan and its
neighbours, which is the terrorist threat," Rice added.

Asked whether the Mumbai terror strikes were intended to
take pressure off al-Qaida, Rice said, "I don't know. We know
that bad people tend to travel in the same circles".

"... if Pakistan cannot focus on what is the real threat
to Pakistan, which is the terrorist threat, and remains
focused on a state-to-state threat... then it benefits the
terrorists," she said, adding, "the Pakistani government and
military well understands it is a "very important moment" for
Pakistan to respond. PTI SK
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